My First (Chilean) Hike!

Yesterday was a great day.  With the help of Internations and Facebook, I found an awesome hiking group.  Carlos, the Chilean founder and leader is an experienced sailor turned hiker who has lived in the States and Brasil and is full of energy.  About 30 people met up in the early morning and headed out for Caijon de Maipo, about 200 km from Santiago. t was a great mix of seasoned group members and newcomers like myself.  I was the only one from USA which is miraculous because we are everywhere.  About half were Chileans, and the rest from Holland, England, Germany, Romania, China, Argentina, Colombia and France.  I'd heard that Santiago is like the Bay Area of Latin America, the nest of start ups and tech companies.  This may be the reason why it is almost certainly the most international city on the continent.  

I expected it to be chilly due to the high elevation, but I didn't expect all the snow that was still on the ground.  It was going to be an 18km up and down to see a glacier but once the group set out we discovered the snow was knee deep and the group (including me) didn't have the right gear. I was disappointed about not seeing the glacier but my out-of-shape legs were relieved.  Then plan b was also a no go because the trail was closed.

The group was starting to loose steam but after some hot cocoa and lunch in the little village above the group rallied and wound up doing a great (much shorter than planned) hike.   We hiked out and back for about three hours with some elevation increase.  The company was interesting and great to chat with in Spanish and English.  Felt good to get the legs moving and it was gorgeous.

After 5 weeks in the city it was a gift to be in nature and witness a landscape like I'd never seen before.  The day rounded off with the mandatory beer and empanada post hike.  Awe and gratitude!